2017 gaming awards – App Trigger superlatives edition

Worst Gaming Trend of the Year – Inherently bad business practices (also defending them)

There are two types of people that see something bad happen and try to justify why it’s good (non-political edition). One, they don’t care that said bad thing is bad because it doesn’t personally affect them. Two, they got duped by said thing and need to make it look as good as possible in order to mask any notion of getting played.

Whether it’s paid gambling in loot boxes aimed at people under the age of majority, egregious acts of duplicitous business practices with crowdfunding campaigns (not meeting goals years after promising them, not refunding people, not updating progress, outright fraud, etc.) or even selling virtual land that hasn’t yet been added to a game, spent with real money, a noticeable contingent of gamers will defend them to the earth.

I understand that people are complex and subjective often, but the idea that someone can spend a hundred real dollars to buy a plot of a virtual moon for a game that has failed to meet countless deadlines is lunacy. Yet, you look on the game’s forums and subreddit and all you’ll find is people willing to hand-wave anti-consumer practices in order to defend a corporation, time and time again.

Let’s hope EA’s shenanigans will start opening eyes for consumers in the gaming industry.

Runners-up: Shutting down studios for making linear single-player games (EA), Getting angry over an Early Access game getting Game of the Year consideration (PUBG detractors)